Gatwick Express

Avoid. Unless you have lots of extra time to get to the airport stay away from this «express» train. Two trains were canceled last minute and at the last second before cancelling one train, the train station announcer called for all to move to take one of the Southern trains, which is not express, and takes about 50 mins.

So you pay premium price to take a train that will get you to Gatwick airport in 30 minutes. Sadly the train just chugs along while the Southern trains pass you by. It is pretty pitiful that this simple promise is so unachievable. The only good point is that the train actually left on time… My advice to the company would be to deliver.

Terrible — two services cancelled as I sat on train — not enough time to make alternative travel arrangements. Missed flight.

Gatwick Express deliberatively double-​charge unwitting tourists. I asked the company’s staff at Gatwick to help me buy the ticket and tell me which train to jump on. I went in a hurry, and ended up going to Victoria. Well there, about ten-​fifteen people were stopped for the same reason as I was, no one had purposefully tried to scheme or save money but they had all made a simple mistake, being directed by the people at the airport to this train. The fact that so many people made the exact same mistake as I did points to the notion that this probably happens on a regular basis to many people. The staff was incredibly rude and even called the police when a couple of Italian guys had a difficult time communicating. So uncalled for when dealing with honest tourists who simply want to come and enjoy London. I’ll try to avoid Gatwick express in the future, you should too.

Good, quick service straight into London Victoria. There are very mixed messages about whether or not you can use an Oyster card on this route or not; I’ve found the best way of doing it is with an old fashioned ticket and a railcard. Get there early to get a seat, but the services are very regular so it might be worth waiting for the next one if you’re not in a rush. Pre-​book if you can!

Service is good, but not cheap.
Overall luggage room does not seem enough (in relation to seat number) considering that the only destination served is a major airport.

I felt like they are taking advantage of people getting on their trains by mistake after buying the normal ticket (about £12 cheaper one way and it almost takes the same amount of time getting to victoria). I bought the ticket online from virgin train website, got to the train station quite late because my flight was delayed and just got on the train to victoria without knowing it’s an express train. When I got to Victoria, there was a man with the machine charging for full priced tickets for people who got on the express train with normal tickets (which means it happens a lot and they know people will make this mistake). In about 5 mins while i was waiting there, I saw at least 5 – 6 confused tourists had to pay more, because they aren’t aware of the different services. I get that in my case I should have checked carefully when booking and boarding on the train, but most people (especially tourists) wouldn’t realize when they are in a hurry. So I genuinely think that they know people will get on their trains by mistake and they let that happen and charge them after they’ve taken the train, so they’ve got no choice but to pay for full price.

Terrible but they know transport options are limited so they don’t care. Unfriendly staff, issues with the machines, and lots of cancelled or delayed trains. Poor service.
For instance the train we needed was the 4.30am train, got to the station and it was canceled. Was a close call to make our flight.
Update to review, still no stars — two weeks later and the 4.30am train cancelled again; this time due to no show driver which I doubt was the case.

Express Train from London Gatwick Airport to London Victoria station. This is a great transportation option for getting from Gatwick airport into London. The Gatwick Express train runs every 15 minutes. Buy tickets at the airport or in advance. Do note that if you buy in advance you have a time limit to use the ticket or it becomes void. Planes often run late so keep that in mind. It is not necessary to buy in advance since they have a quick moving line to buy tickets right at the airport. The tickets run 17 pounds from the airport to Victoria and can run up to 32 pounds depending on return options. The train is very comfortable and is a non-​stop into the city. It is a lot faster than a taxi or bus and stress free!

El Gatwick Express es la mejor opción que hay para trasladarse desde el aeropuerto hasta Londres, o viceversa. Es posible que el precio parezca caro, pero en realidad yo creo que está totalmente proporcionado con la distancia y el tiempo del trayecto. Otras veces que he venido a Londres a través de Gatwick fui en bus y otra en coche y fueron muchísimo más lentos que en el tren.
Lo mejor es comprar el billete por adelantado, ya sea online o quizá en el propio avión. Salen trenes cada 15 minutos y se llega, creo, a Victoria Station en un cómodo viaje. Los accesos están bien señalizados, existen taquillas automáticas y ventanillas para comprar el billete y sale mucho más rentable comprarlo de ida y vuelta.

In all fairness, after the bad experience and plenty of emails back and forth, I had given up on getting a refund for services non rendered.
After a couple of months, I got a refund cheque. They really followed up. Thanks!

We ordered FIRST CLASS tickets on line prior to our trip. When we arrived at the airport station I showed an employee our FIRST CLASS tickets and asked where we were to go with all of our luggage. He lead us to the wrong platform where we boarded a crowded train that stopped MANY times, had no place for our luggage and was NOT the Gatwick Express. When we returned to Victoria Station to head to Gatwick Airport we went to the right platform and an employee yelled hurry and threw our luggage in between two cars where we (my 12 year old daughter too) were told to enter. I kept saying we are FIRST CLASS. He told us as the door closed to walk several cars up. We were trapped where people and baggage were not allowed. We held on for dear life as our luggage was tossed toward us. When I exited a train I told an employee. She said fill out a form. NO SORRY whatsoever! BAD EXPERIENCE!

This express service to Gatwick airport is fault nice, save time and money, but definitely he facilities and he coaches could be cleaner and better.

A good train that gets you from the airport into central London. Only thing is it always seems to be jam packed, and it is quite expensive too.

Found this service really quick and easy. It takes you direct with no stops from Gatwick airport to Victoria station. It’s only about half an hour of a journey which is excellent. The only thing that puts me off is the price. It’s £19.00 for a one way journey, or £34 month return.
I would use this service again but would book online in advance for a (small) discount.

This is an easy and quick way to get into London from Gatwick airport. It is a pricey option though since you can take a private bus service to victoria station for a few quid. I prefer getting on quick and avoiding the roads dispite the cost. The seats are comfortable and the view, well its greater london right?

Convenient train into the heart of London via the Gatwick Airport. Reccomended.

Express. Is that a joke?
Seriously the only express thing is the way they charge you their super high fee for a rubbish, (insert expletive here that I would normally say instead of rubbish), service. They do the charging in a «I want your money in an express fashion» type of way.
The express train dawdles it’s way through London to get you to Victoria. Pretty much trying to make sure your are late for your next stop. Getting on and off the train is like trying to go for a wizz at ½ time at the football. It is rammed with folk pushing and shoving, except it’s actually worse as all these people are sure they are the most important person in the world.
You need more? The train is rammed full, they charge a fortune and seem to sell more tickets than seats.
If you can, go to Heathrow or London city so you can avoid having the Gatwick express experience.
If your reading this just now already on the train… I feel your pain!

Hmmm, how to review. Wish I had checked Unilocal before arranging.
Plus point: got seat both legs of journey. Was non-​stop to Victoria and pretty seamless and well signposted through airport to get to train.
Negatives: shit customer service from ordering tickets online. Failure to deal with website issue, responding to email saying sorry but my journey had passed (it hadn’t as still had a week till I travelled) so thats that. Had to pay for website screw up at other end and staff not very helpful.
So, friends (and Unilocalers) have noted this is a licence to charge poor suckers mucho dosh when trains take 10mins more for a lot less. If you travel at peak times, you’ll pay the Gatwick Express premium to still be packed in sardine can style. Plus not all trains are non-​stop so be very careful of this. If I was paying myself, I’d go for other options in the future…

My return flight to Malta was £70. The train from London to Gatwick. £19.90. Disgusting price.

I was right!
Took the southern line (1 stop) from London Bridge to Gatwick and it is exactly the same amount of time as Gatwick Express. And cheaper.
If you’re going from East London, there is no way Gatwick Express is a good option.

My feelings towards the Gatwick Express partly stem from my own disorganisation as I was running late, so they aren’t solely to blame. But this was no where near as «express» as I expected, and ended up nearly missing my flight.
You can buy tickets online before you travel. DO THIS. Otherwise you will have to wait in line at Victoria Station for a good 5 – 10 minutes to buy a ticket, either from a ticket office or the machine. This was the start of my frustrations as I was in a hurry. The ticket was over £20 as well, around the same price as getting to other airports but still extortionate.
I’d read the Express leaves every 15 minutes, and takes 30 minutes to Gatwick. Having finally purchased my ticket, I walked on to the platforms (13 & 14) to find no Express train waiting. It was 3.40. The next Express train was at 4pm. Gah! There was a train on platform 14 that was going somewhere else — I found this confusing as all the signage suggested the trains from these two platforms went to Gatwick.
When I was finally on the train, I checked the National Rail app and saw there was another train leaving before 4pm on another platform, not an «express» one but still arriving in 30 minutes. I just checked and the price is also cheaper — around £15. More frustration.
Finally, the train departs and some 30 minutes later we arrive in Gatwick. Unfortunately if you are then flying with BA it will take around 10 minutes to get to the North Terminal. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be a burning hot ball of rage by this time.
I saw another review (Heather E) comment on the staff being unhelpful and I totally agree. The staff on the platforms went out of their way to avoid talking to customers and telling them which train to get on. I understand they’d come across a lot of tourists here, so it might get annoying for them — but help people out!
To finish on a good point, the train was comfortable and it was easy to get a table seat. It got me to Gatwick.

Le moyen de transport le plus rapide pour arriver dans le coeur de Londres quand on vient de l’aéroport de Gatwick. ½ heure sans arrêt pour arriver à Victoria, c’est parfait.
Alors évidemment c’est assez cher comme tous les transports londoniens, mais si vous êtes un peu malins, vous pouvez pré-​payer vos billets sur le site internet. Les réductions sont vraiment intéressantes, il y a des tarifs de groupes et si vous êtes minimum 4, vous né payez que pour deux !

Super Verbindung zum Gatwick Airport! Zwar etwas teuer mit seinen 17,90 Pfund, aber dafür wird man nicht angemotzt, weil man noch kein Tickt hat, sondern der Schaffner schenkt einem ein liebes und mitfühlendes Lächeln (was man sich auch verdient hat, wenn man es von Bermondsey nach Victoria geschafft hat) und verkauft einem ganz einfach das Ticket an Bord. Die Zugfahrt selbst ist sehr angenehm, dauert etwa eine halbe Stunde und verläuft ohne Zwischenhalte. Hier kommt man sehr gut zur Ruhe, was wirklich wichtig ist, denn sowohl am Gatwick Airport als auch in der Congestion of London (Verstopfung Londons) verliert man viele, viele Nerven ;)

Die teuren Tickets von den Express-​Zügen fressen den preislichen Vorteil der billigen Airlines wieder auf. Dann kann man gleich mit dem Eurostar via St. Pancras International von Europa bis in das Zentrum von London zu fahren. Es wird dann nur noch eine Tube-​Zonenkarte 1 – 5 benötigt.

Gut, er fährt alle 15min. nach London Victoria, aber muss er deswegen und des 8 minütigen Zeitgewinn doppelt so teuer wie die anderen Züge sein?
Ansonsten alles bestens, abends kann es ein wenig voll werden.